DO NOT USE IF IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS-Michgan-or WISCONSIN!!!! When one thinks of marriage, images of happiness, faithfulness, and unconditional
love come to mind. Marriages are not for allowing two lovers to accomplish personal
goals, but rather for faithful companions to live the rest of their lives together. In The
Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy presents the reader with two pairs of lovers that
marry to accomplish personal goals, not because of a mutual love and a desire to obtain a
lifelong soul mate. Hardy reveals the true motives governing the participants in the
novels marriage alliances: Eustacia, Clym, Thomasin, and Wildeve marry to carry out
their individual plans for the future, rather than for love of one another.
Eustacia Vye is a lazy, self-absorbed, cunning diva whose desire to marry Clym
Yeobright is based on her vision of a extravagant life in Paris with her prized husband. It
is the news that Clym is from Paris that generates Eustacia’s vision of pomp and glamour.
She gets so infatuated with her vision of what Clym Yeobright is, that before she even
meets him, she has a dream of the two dancing the night away. There is further evidence
of Eustacia’s fascination with Parisian life. When Eustacia and Clym meet while trying to
fetch the water bucket from the well, there is mention of the boulevards of Paris, and this
piques Eustacia’s interest. Clym recognizes her interest in the city by saying, “I remember
The Essay on Mrs Yeobright Clym Eustacia Wildeve
The Influences of Clym in The Return of the Native The novel, The Return of the Native, explores the clash between the inevitable social change and a traditional way of life. Set in imaginary landscape of Wessex, the story concerns Eustacia Vye, Mrs Yeobright, Thomasin, and Damon Wildeve - and how Clym Yeobright, the returning native of the title, affects each of their destinies, an his own. The ...
when I had the same longing for town bustle. Five years of a great city would be a perfect
cure for that.” (Page 191).
Eustacia responds, “Heavens send me such a cure!” (Page
191).
Finally, when the love between Eustacia and Clym blossoms, Clym proposes to
Eustacia, and Eustacia’s response is, “I must think. At present speak of Paris to me. Is
there any place like it on Earth?” (Page 201).
A bewildered Clym answers “It is very
beautiful. But will you be mine?”. Eustacia then asks even more questions about Paris,
such as, “Now tell me of the Tuileries, and the Louvre.” (Page 201).
Frustrated with the
lack of a solid answer from Eustacia, Clym cries “I hate talking of Paris!”, but this does
not stop Eustacia’s constant flow of questions about the city. This is definitely not the
expected response to a proposal of marriage, and further evidences that Eustacia is more
interested in a possible life in Paris than the love of Clym Yeobright.
Clym Yeobright also is interested in marriage to help carryout his own personal
goals in life. Before the two meet face to face (Without The Mummer Costume), Clym is
introduced to Eustacia by Sam the turf-cutter. Sam reports to Clym that Eustacia is “a
handsome girl” (Page 183) and that Clym ought to check her out. Clym’s first response
to this is “Do you think she would like to teach children?” (Page 183).
This brief passage
shows that when presented with the opportunity to marry, Clym first thinks about the
possibility that she would be willing to help him in his desire to run a school. As the
relationship between the two progresses, Clym talks to his mother about his intent to
marry Eustacia. Naturally, Mrs. Yeobright objects. The first words of defense to come
out of Clym’s mouth are, “She is excellently educated, and would make a good matron in
a boarding school…I can establish a good private school…by the assistance of a wife like
The Term Paper on Mrs Yeobright Eustacia Clym Wildeve
The Story In Brief Eustacia Vye, a nineteen-year-old, sultry beauty, has one compelling desire: to marry a man worthy of her and to travel to exotic distant lands with him as her cavalier. Living on Eldon Heath, she has only one possible candidate: Damon Wildeve, keeper of the village inn, a former civil engineer who somehow failed in his profession. Wildeve and Eustacia Vye have equally uncurbed ...
her.” (Page 196-197).
This is evidence that Clym is thinking of the possible uses of
Eustacia helping him run a school for the Heath folk. A final bit of evidence that Clym is
not entering into the marriage for love is presented, “Yeobright began to perceive what a
strait he was in. Sometimes he wished that he had never known Eustacia…antagonistic
growths had to be kept alive…Eustacia’s happiness.” (Page 204-205).
This sad passage
points out that Clym regretted his hurried proposal of Eustacia and is now living with the
consequences. He does not want to bear the disgrace of abandoning Eustacia and the
scorn of his mother, so he decides to carry on the planed marriage and live with the
consequences.
Thomasin Yeobright motive to marry Wildeve is because it is “practical”.
Grief-stricken over the failure of their first attempt to marry, Thomasin is left to wonder
wether or not Wildeve will come and try to claim her again. During this time, Thomasin’s
love of Wildeve wanes. By the time Wildeve returns to Thomasin to set a new wedding
date, Thomasin is no longer interested in the marriage for love’s sake. She is now only
interested in getting a husband to help support her. She has abandoned the idea that love
should be the a factor for marriage. Her views are best stated when she tells Mrs.
Yeobright, “I am a practical woman now. I don’t believe in hearts at all. I would marry
him under any circumstances since Clym’s letter.” (Page 161).
Further influencing the
idea that a marriage to Wildeve would be practical is a letter that Clym Yeobright has sent
to Blooms End. The letter states that Clym is most upset over the “silly stories” that have
been circulating throughout the Heath of the couple’s failed attempt to marry. He does
not believe the reports, and Thomasin would like it that way. If Thomasin and Wildeve
marry before Clym returns from his visit to a friend, she can say that the rumors are false,
and Clym will never the true story of Thomasin and Wildeve. Thomasin feels that this will
The Essay on Wildeve V Venn
Character Comparison: Venn vs. Wildeve Perhaps two of the most opposing characters of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native, both in personality and actions, Diggory Venn and Damon Wildeve could in some respects be cast as night and day. Most signifigant is the converse treatment of each man towards Thomasin Yeobright. The stark differences between the reddleman Venn and Wildeve most likely are ...
also spare Clym the grief and embarrassment of finding out that the stories are true.
Thomaisn enforces this view when she states, “I have felt that I acted unfairly to him in
not telling him all; but, as it was done not to grieve him, I thought I could carry out the
plan to its end, and tell the whole story when the sky was clear.” (Page 164).
Dameon Wildeve is a deceitful and vengeful character who’s purpose of marrying
Thomasin Yeobright is to carry out his own type of personal revenge against Eustacia Vye
for breaking off their affair. The news is too much for the proud Wildeve, his feelings are
best described when the author states that, “He could only decently save himself by
Thomasin; and once he became her husband, Eustacia’s repentance, he thought, would set
in for a long and bitter term.” (Page 159).
So, Wildeve carries out his devious plan. At
the wedding, Eustacia is present to witness the marriage. Feeling that this would be the
best time to make Eustacia feel regret, Wildeve, while Thomasin is saying the “I Do’s”,
glances at Eustacia with a glance that said plainly, “I have punished you now.” (Page
169).
The personal motives surrounding the marriages of characters in the novel reveal
the self-centered tendencies of humans. None of the characters chose love as the deciding
factor over want in their marriage. This is a sad but all to common occurrence today, and
a reason why we have such a high divorce rate. I’m sure that if divorce was more socially
acceptable in the days of The Return of the Native, that the characters would regret their
decisions, and be separated in a matter of months.
